This application claims benefit from U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/609,781, filed Sep. 14, 2004, now pending, and U.S. Provisional Patent Application No. 60/616,698, filed Oct. 7, 2004, now pending. The complete disclosures of both applications are incorporated herein by reference.
The present disclosure relates to powered utility knives.
A conventional manual utility knife typically includes an axially elongated housing or case that also serves as a handle, a blade holder moveably mounted in the case, and a blade mounted upon the blade holder. The blade holder may be fixed relative to the body by a spring-biased tab that can be disengaged to permit movement of the blade holder to extend the blade from the case, e.g. for cutting, and to retract the blade into the case, e.g. for safe storage. To replace a blade, the case is usually disassembled to allow the blade to be removed from the blade holder. A replacement blade, which may be stored in a cavity in the handle provided for that purpose, is installed on the blade holder, and the utility knife case is then reassembled.